Over the holidays, I received a festive paperweight brightly colored in green, red, and yellow. Captured within it was a cheerful airborne lady who holds a banner aloft that says, “good fairies are everywhere.” How true this is!
Among the gifts of travel I relish most are chance encounters with creative souls who generously share their enthusiasms and skills with me. In the small inn where we stayed some time ago in Vermont I woke up early one morning and went to the cozy breakfast room hoping for a cup of java to start my day.
Just in time! I was cheerfully supplied with a steaming mug by Ruth Ann, who manages the inn. We started chatting and one thing led to another. I mentioned that I was a writer and told her about my book, Birthing the Elephant: the woman’s go-for-it! guide to overcoming the big challenges of launching a business. She was excited because her daughter is a baker and hopes to start her own bakery some time soon. What a coincidence! It turned out that one of the entrepreneurs I interviewed for my book was a bubbly young baker in her twenties who opened up a bakery and made a good go of it. I offered to send Ruth Ann a signed copy.
And guess what! It turned out that Ruth Ann is in theatre. She’s directed plays, judged playwrighting contests, and worked with gifted students and actors. I told her about my Sojourner Truth play and she was kind enough to say that she’d take a look and give me some feedback.
What a great cup of coffee that turned out to be! You never know when someone you can support and who can support you will manifest on the writing front. How wonderful to think that there are helping hands everywhere just waiting to reach out and raise us up.
Too often, I think, we’re hesitant to share our work, hopes, and dreams with people we don’t know well or strangers we’ve just met. But in my experience, these souls frequently turn out to be the very ones the universe sends our way to give us a dose of advice or inspiration or encouragement. So let’s remember that “good fairies are everywhere,” and welcome these “faery folk” whenever they come our way. And write on!
